quality of work life project by sneha venkataraman

8/3/2019 Quality of Work Life Project by Sneha Venkataraman

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A Project Report On

QUALITY

ofWORK LIFE

Submitted By:

Sneha Venkatraman

Roll # 46T.Y.B.M.S

Third Year of Bachelor of Management Studies

(VSemester)

G.N.KHALSA COLLEGE

OfArts, Science & Commerce, Mumbai-400019

To the University of Mumbai In Partial FulfillmentOf Bachelor of Management Studies

Academic Year:

2004-2005

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(Sneha Venkatraman)

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DECLARATION

I, Sneha Venkatraman student of T.Y.B.M.S G.N.Khalsa

College have completed the Project on

Quality of Work Life

for the Academic Year 2004-05.

The information given in this project is true to the best of my

knowledge.


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Signature of Signature of

Project Co-ordinator Principal

G.N.Khalsa College

Date: Date :

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CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify that Sneha Venkatraman student of

T.Y.B.M.S Khalsa College has completed the Project on

Quality of Work Lifefor the Academic Year 2004-05.

This information is true to the best of my knowledge.


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INTENT

I have undertaken the project on Quality of Work Life as a part of the

curriculum of the Vth Semester. The main reason I took up this project is to learn

how different work life situations affect employees in their working styles.

The main intent/aim of doing this project is to understand what good

quality work life means to employees and how it affects the companies. The

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PREFACE

This project is undertaken to fulfil the project work component of

the B.M.S program in the V Semester. My project guide from

G.N.Khalsa College is Prof. Simran Chawla.

This project shows the working style and life of employees at their

workplace. It gives an insight into the employer-employee relationshipsprevalent in companies. It speaks about how a company should keep their

employees happy by providing them quality work life.

This project also gives an overview of how a Human Resource

Department should function so as to retain the best of the companys

human resources for the companys betterment.


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project helps me to understand how a companys HR Department try to improve

their business by keeping good relations with employees. It helps to understand

how good working conditions help employees to work more efficiently. Quality

Work Life emphasises on how an employee and employer should keep a proper balance between their work and family. It emphasises how people can keep

balance by making their work timings flexible.

QWL basically is all about employee involvement, which consists of

methods to motivate employees to participate in decision making. This helps in

building good relationships. The project gives emphasis on use of quality circles

by companies like Motorola, which helps in solving many quality and people

related problems.

This project is a means to appreciate the nitty-gritty involved in employees

relationship with their organisation and employers. It helps me understand how

organisations keep constant check of health and safety so as to run their business

smoothly.

Last but not the least, this project, shows through case studies how different

organisations take care of the working environment, so as to keep their employees

and other associates happy.

CONTENTS

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PART I 9-75

CHAPTER I

WHAT IS QUALITY OF WORK LIFE?(QWL)

10-22

CHAPTER II

QWL AS AN HR STRATEGY

23-30

CHAPTER III

QWL THE HUMAN IMPLICATIONS

31-38

CHAPTER IV

QWL THROUGH EMPLOYEEINVOLVEMENT (EI)

39-40

CHAPTER V QWL and EI INTERVENTION

41-44

CHAPTER VI

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS PRACTICES

45-50

CHAPTER VII

EMPLOYEE HEALTH

51-56

CHAPTER VIII

WORK LIFE BALANCE

57-66

CHAPTER IX

HAPPINESS AT WORK PLACE

67-75

PART II 76-99

CASE STUDIES 77-98

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TAJs PEOPLE PHILOSOHY 78-87

TATAs QWL 88-96

IBM 97-98

BIBLIOGRAPHY 99-99

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WHAT IS QWL?

The term refers to the favourableness or unfavourableness of a total job

environment for people. QWL programs are another way in which organisations

recognise their responsibility to develop jobs and working conditions that are

excellent for people as well as for economic health of the organisation. The

elements in a typical QWL program include open communications, equitable

reward systems, a concern for employee job security and satisfying careers and

participation in decision making. Many early QWL efforts focus on job

enrichment. In addition to improving the work system, QWL programs usually

emphasise development of employee skills, the reduction of occupational stress

and the development of more co-operative labour-management relations.

Vigorous Domestic and International competition drive organisations to be

more productive. Proactive managers and human resource departments respond to

this challenge by finding new ways to improve productivity. Some strategies rely

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heavily upon new capital investment and technology. Others seek changes in

employee relations practices.

Human resource departments are involved with efforts to improveproductivity through changes in employee relations. QWL means having good

supervision, good working conditions, good pay and benefits and an interesting,

challenging and rewarding job. High QWL is sought through an employee

relations philosophy that encourages the use of QWL efforts, which are systematic

attempts by an organisation to give workers greater opportunities to affect their

jobs and their contributions to the organisations overall effectiveness. That is, a

proactive human resource department finds ways to empower employees so that

they draw on their brains and wits, usually by getting the employees more

involved in the decision-making process.

A Rationale

Job specialisation and simplification were popular in the early part of this

century. Employees were assigned narrow jobs and supported by a rigid hierarchy

in the expectation that efficiency would improve. The idea was to lower cost by

using unskilled workers who could be easily trained to do a small, repetitive part

of each job.

Many difficulties developed from that classical job design, however. There

was excessive division of labour. Workers became socially isolated from their co-

workers because their highly specialised jobs weakened their community of

interest in the whole product. De-skilled workers lost pride in their work and

became bored with their jobs. Higher-order (social and growth) needs were left

unsatisfied. The result was higher turnover and absenteeism, declines in quality

and alienated workers. Conflict often arose as workers sought to improve their

conditions and organisations failed to respond appropriately. The real cause was

that in many instances the job itself simply was not satisfying.

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Forces For Change

A factor contributing to the problem was that the workers themselves were

changing. They became educated, more affluent (partly because of theeffectiveness of classical job design), and more independent. They began reaching

for higher-order needs, something more than merely earning their bread.

Employers now had two reasons for re-designing jobs and organisations for a

better QWL:

Classical design originally gave inadequate attention to human needs.

The needs and aspirations of workers themselves were changing.

Humanised Work Through QWL

One option was to re-design jobs to have the attributes desired by people,

and re-design organisations to have the environment desired by the people. This

approach seeks to improve QWL. There is a need to give workers more of a

challenge, more of a whole task, more opportunity to use their ideas. Close

attention to QWL provides a more humanised work environment. It attempts to

serve the higher-order needs of workers as well as their more basic needs. It seeks

to employ the higher skills of workers and to provide an environment that

encourages them to improve their skills. The idea is that human resources should

be developed and not simply used. Further, the work should not have excessively

negative conditions. It should not put workers under undue stress. It should not

damage or degrade their humanness. It should not be threatening or unduly

dangerous. Finally, it should contribute to, or at least leave unimpaired, workers

abilities to perform in other life roles, such as citizen, spouse and parent. That is,

work should contribute to general social advancement.

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Job Enlargement vs. Job Enrichment

The modern interest in quality of work life was stimulated through efforts

to change the scope of peoples jobs in attempting to motivate them. Job scope

has two dimensions breadth and depth. Job breadth is the number of differenttasks an individual is directly responsible for. It ranges from very narrow (one task

performed repetitively) to wide (several tasks). Employees with narrow job

breadth were sometimes given a wider variety of duties in order to reduce their

monotony; this process is called job enlargement. In order to perform these

additional duties, employees spend less time on each duty. Another approach to

changing job breadth is job rotation, which involves periodic assignment of an

employee to completely different sets of job activities. Job rotation is an effective

way to develop multiple skills in employees, which benefits the organisation while

creating greater job interest and career options for the employee.

Job enrichment takes a different approach by adding additional motivators

to a job to make it more rewarding. It was developed by Frederick Herzberg on the

basis of his studies indicating that the most effective way to motivate workers was

by focusing on higher-order needs. Job enrichment seeks to add depth to a job

by giving workers more control, responsibility and discretion over hoe their job is

performed. The difference between enlargement and enrichment is illustrated in

the figure on the next page.

Difference between job enrichment and job enlargement

Higher-order

Lower-

Job enrichment Jon enrichment

and enlargement

Routine job Job enlargement

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order

Few ManyNumber of tasks

(Focus on Breadth)

In the above figure we see that job enrichment focuses on satisfying higher-

order needs, while job enlargement concentrates on adding additional tasks to the

workers job for greater variety. The two approaches can even be blended, by both

expanding the number of tasks and adding more motivators, for a two-pronged

attempt to improve QWL.

Job enrichment brings benefits, as shown in the below figure.

Benefits of job enrichment emerge in three areas

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JOBENRICHMENT

BENEFITS

Individual:

Growth Self-

actualisation

Organisation: Intrinsically

motivatedemployees

Better employeeperformance

Less absenteeismand turnover;fewer grievances


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Its general result is a role enrichment that encourages growth and self-

actualisation. The job is built in such a way that intrinsic motivation is

encouraged. Because motivation is increased, performance should improve, thus

providing both a more humanised and a more productive job. Negative effects also

tend to be reduced, such as turnover, absences, grievances and idle time. In this

manner both the worker and society benefit. The worker performs better,

experiences greater job satisfaction and becomes more self-actualised, thus being

able to participate in all life roles more effectively. Society benefits from the more

effectively functioning person as well as from better job performance.

Applying Job Enrichment

Viewed in terms of Herzbergs motivational factors, job enrichment occurs

when the work itself is more challenging, when achievement is encouraged, when

there is opportunity for growth and when responsibility, feedback and recognition

are provided. However, employees are the final judges of what enriches their jobs.

All that management can do is gather information about what tend to enrich jobs,

try those changes in the job system and then determine whether employees feel

that enrichment has occurred.

In trying to build motivational factors, management also gives attention to

maintenance factors. It attempts to keep maintenance factors constant or higher as

the motivational factors are increased. If maintenance factors are allowed to

decline during an enrichment program, then employees may be less responsive to

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Society:

Full use ofhuman

resources More effective

or anisations


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the enrichment program because they are distracted by inadequate maintenance.

The need for a systems approach in job enrichment is satisfied by the practice of

gain sharing.

Since hob enrichment must occur from each employees personal

viewpoint, not all employees will choose enriched jobs if they have an option. A

contingency relationship exists in terms of different job needs, and some

employees prefer the simplicity and security of more routine jobs.

Core Dimensions: A Job Characteristics Approach

How can jobs be enriched? And how does job enrichment produce its

desired outcomes? J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham have developed a job

characteristics approach to job enrichment that identifies five core dimensions

skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. Ideally, a job

must have all five dimensions to be fully enriched. If one dimension is perceived

to be missing, workers are psychologically deprived and motivation may be

reduced.

The core dimensions affect an employees psychological state, which tends

to improve performance, satisfaction and quality of work and to reduce turnover

and absenteeism. Their effect on quantity of work is less dependable. Many

managerial and white-collar jobs, as well as blue-collar jobs, often are deficient in

some core dimensions. Although there are large individual differences in how

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In one instance a manufacturer set up production in two different ways.Employees were allowed to choose between work on a standard assemblyline and at a bench where they individually assembled the entire product.In the beginning few employees chose to work at the enriched jobs, butgradually about half the workers chose them the more routine assemblyo eration seemed to fit the needs of the other half.


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employees react to core dimensions, the typical employee finds them to be basic

for internal motivation. The dimensions and their effects are shown in the

following figure and discussed in greater detail here.

The Human Resource Departments Role

The role of human resource department in QWL efforts varies widely. In

some organisations, top management appoints an executive to ensure that QWL

and productivity efforts occur throughout the organisation. In most cases, these

executives have a small staff and must rely on the human resource department for

help with employee training, communications, attitude survey feedback, and

similar assistance. In other organisations, the department is responsible for

initiating and directing the firms QWL and productivity efforts.

Perhaps the most crucial role of the department is winning the support of

key managers. Management support particularly top management support

appears to be an almost universal prerequisite for successful QWL programs. By

substantiating employee satisfaction and bottom-line benefits, which range from

lower absenteeism and turnover to higher productivity and fewer accidents, the

department can help convince doubting managers. Sometimes documentation of

QWL can result from studies of performance before and after a QWL effort.

Without documentation of these results, top management might not have

continued its strong support.

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The department also has both a direct and indirect influence on employee

motivation and satisfaction.

Satisfaction

Direct

Orientation

Training and

Development

Career Planning

Counselling Supervisor Employee

Indirect

Safety and

Health policies

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HumanResource

Department

QUALITYO

FWORKLIFE


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Compensation practices

Other policies and

practices

Motivation

As the above figure illustrates, the department makes direct contact with

employees and supervisors through orientation, training and development, career

planning, and counselling activities. At the same time, these activities may help a

supervisor do a better job of motivating employees.

The policies and practices of the department also influence motivation and

satisfaction indirectly. Rigorous enforced safety and health programs, for example,

can give employees and supervisors a greater sense of safety from accidents and

industrial health hazards. Likewise, compensation policies may motivate and

satisfy employees through incentive plans, or they may harm motivation and

satisfaction through insufficient raises or outright salary freezes. The motivation

and satisfaction of employees act as feedback on the organisations QWL and on

the departments day-to-day activities.

Motivation

Motivation is a complex subject. It involves the unique feelings, thoughts

and past experiences of each of us as we share a variety of relationships within and

outside organisations. To expect a single motivational approach work in every

situation is probably unrealistic. In fact, even theorists and researches take

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different points of view about motivation. Nevertheless, motivation can be defined

as a persons drive to take an action because that person wants to do so. People act

because they feel that they have to. However, if they are motivated they make the

positive choice to act for a purpose because, for example, it may satisfy some oftheir needs.

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is the favourableness or unfavourableness with which

employees view their work. As with motivation, it is affected by the environment.

Job satisfaction is impacted by job design. Jobs that are rich in positive

behavioural elements such as autonomy, variety, task identity, task significance

and feedback contribute to employees satisfaction. Likewise, orientation is

important because the employees acceptance by the work group contributes to

satisfaction. In sort, each element of the environmental system, can add to, or

detract from, job satisfaction.

Rewards Satisfaction and Performance

A basic issue is whether satisfaction leads to better performance, or whether

better performance leads to satisfaction. Which comes first? The reason for this

apparent uncertainty about the relationship between performance and satisfaction

is that rewards intervene as shown in the figure below.

A Reward Performance Model of Motivation

Rewards

Reinforcement

Performance Satisfaction

20employee

Jobitself

Small groups


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Motivation Self-image

Inner drives Self-esteem

Self-expectation

Needs and Desire

Whether satisfaction is going to be improved depends on whether the

rewards match the expectations, needs and desires of the employee as shown at the

bottom of the above figure. If better performance leads to higher rewards and if

these rewards are seen as fair and equitable, then results in improved satisfaction.

On the other hand, inadequate rewards can lead to dissatisfaction. In either case,

satisfaction becomes feedback that affects ones self-image and motivation to

perform. The total performance-satisfaction relationship is a continuous system,

making it difficult to assess the impact of satisfaction on motivation or on

performance, and vice-versa.

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QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AS HR STARTEGY AN

ANALYSIS

Todays workforce consists of literate workers who expect more than just money

from their work.

In the modern scenario, QWL as a strategy of Human Resource

Management is being recognised as the ultimate key for development among all

the work systems, not merely as a concession. This is integral to any organisationtowards its wholesome growth. This is attempted on par with strategies of

Customer Relation Management.

Strategy and Tactics

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Over the years, since industrial revolution, much experimentation has gone

into exploiting potential of human capital in work areas either explicitly or

implicitly. Thanks to the revolution in advanced technology, the imperative need

to look into QWL in a new perspective is felt and deliberated upon. Majorcompanies are tirelessly implementing this paradigm in Human Resources

Development (some call it Peoples Excellence).

Globalisation has lowered national boundaries, creating a knowledge-based

economy that spins and spans the world. Major economies are converging

technologically and economically, and are highly connected at present moment.

The new global workplace demands certain prerequisites such as higher order of

thinking skills like abstraction system thinking and experimental inquiry, problem-

solving and team work. The needs are greater in the new systems, which are

participative ventures involving workers managed by so-called fictional

proprietors.

Men Counted

In simple terms, all the above requirements can be easily achieved by

providing improved quality of work life to the workers available on rolls.

Workers are often referred to as teams or groups in general parlance and whatever

the do go to the credit of the teamwork.

The concept of teamwork has evolved from the organised toil that has its

own social dimensions. Good teams can hardly be imported from outside. They

usually occur as an indigenous incidence at the workplace and nurturing the same

over time is the responsibility of management. Here, it may also be discerned that

the composition of available workers in no more a local phenomenon as in the

past. Mobility is caused by migration beyond culture barriers and isolation,

relocation and globalised deployment. This phenomenon has become universal

and is causing great changes in the work environment at factories as well as

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offices. The new influx of skilled workers seeking greener pastures is even

questioning the skills of new employers and thereby restructuring the new

environs on par with those of best in the world, unwittingly though.

Money Matters

For good QWL, cash is not the only answer. Today, the workers are aware

of the job requirements of job as also the fact that the performance of the same is

measured against the basic goals and objectives of the organisation and more

importantly, wages are paid according to the larger picture specific to the industry

and the employers place in the same.

The increased share of workers in wages and benefits through legislation as

well as competitive interplay of superior managements in various fields of

industry and business on extensive levels has reshaped the workers idea of quality

of work life. Moreover, other things being equal, the employers are increasingly

vying with their rivals in providing better working conditions and emoluments.

This may be owing to many reasons besides the concern for the human angle of

workers, like the employers tendency to climb on the bandwagon, to reap to the

desired dividends or to woo better talent into their fold as skill base addition and

other non-economic inputs like knowledge bases. Doubtlessly, the increased

tendency of recruiting knowledge bases is giving the modern managements

payoffs in myriad ways. Some of them are intended potentials for product

innovations and cost cuttings. Talking of product, it may appear far-fetched to

some that product is being assessed in the market for its quality and price by the

environment created in the areas where workers and customers are dealt and

transact, like ambience in facilities / amenities as also the companys pay scales.

This goes to prove that QWL of manufacturer / service provider is synonymous

with the quality of product.

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Non economic Job Security

The changing workforce consists of literate workers who expect more than

just money from their work life. Their idea of salvation lies in the respect they

obtain in the work environment, like how they are individually dealt andcommunicated with by other members in the team as well as the employer, what

kind of work he is entrusted with, etc. Some of these non-economic aspect are:

Self respect, satisfaction, recognition, merit compensation in job allocation,

incompatibility of work conditions affecting health, bullying by older peers and

boss, physical constraints like distance to work, lack of flexible working hours,

work-life imbalances, invasion of privacy in case of certain cultural groups and

gender discrimination and drug addiction. One or more of the problems like above

can cast a job-insecurity question, for no direct and visible fault of the employer.

Yet, the employer has to identify the source of workers problems and try to

mitigate the conditions and take supportive steps in the organisation so that the

workers will be easily retained and motivated and earn ROI. The loss of man-

hours to the national income due to the above factors is simply overwhelming.

Employer should instill in the worker the feeling of trust and confidence by

creating appropriate channels and systems to alleviate the above shortcomings so

that the workers use their best mental faculties on the achievement of goals and

objectives of the employer.

To cite some examples, employers in certain software companies have

provided infrastructure to train the children of workers in vocational activities

including computer education, so that the workers need not engage their attention

on this aspect. Employee care initiatives taken by certain companies include

creation of Hobby clubs, Fun and Leisure Clubs for the physical and psychological

well-beingness of workers and their families. After all, the workers are inexorably

linked to the welfare of their families, as it is their primary concern.

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Dual income workers, meaning both spouses working are the order of the

day. The work life balance differs in this category and greater understanding and

flexibility are required with respect to leave, compensation and working hours inthe larger framework.

Teamwork

Teamwork is the new mantra of modern day peoples excellence strategy.

Todays teams are self-propelled ones. The modern manager has to strive at the

group coherence for common cause of the project. The ideal team has wider

discretion and sense of responsibility than before as how best to go about with its

business. Here, each member can find a new sense of belonging to each other in

the unit and concentrate on the groups new responsibility towards employers

goals. This will boost the coziness and morale of members in the positive

environment created by each others trust. Positive energies, free of workplace

anxiety, will garner better working results. Involvement in teamwork deters

deserters and employer need not bother himself over the detention exercises and

save money on motivation and campaigns.

Boss Factor

Gone are the days when employers controlled workers by suppressing the

initiative and independence by berating their brilliance and skills, by designing

and entrusting arduous and monotonous jobs and offer mere sops in terms of

wages and weekly off. Trust develops when managers pay some attention to the

welfare of the workers and treat them well by being honest in their relations. The

employer should keep in mind that every unpaid hour of overtime the worker

spends on work is an hour less spent with the family.

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New performance appraisals are put into vogue to assess a workers

contribution vis--vis on employers objectives and to find out the training and

updating needs and levels of motivation and commitment. As observed in some

advanced companies, the workers themselves are drawing their benefits by filingappraisal forms and drawing simultaneously the appropriate benefits by the click

of the mouse directly from their drawing rooms, courtesy e-HR systems. In

addition, there are quite a number of channels for informal reviews. Feedback on

workers performance, if well interpreted and analysed, could go a long way in

improving ethics at workplace.

Involvement and Communication

Multi-skilling and exposing workers to different lines of activity in the unit

indirectly leads to the greater involvement and better job security of worker in the

organisation. The employer too, can make use of the varied skills to any altered

situations of restructuring and other market adaptations. Thus, the monotony of

work life can be alleviated. The employer, armed with the depth of cross-trained

human resources, need not go hunting for new talent and thus save on the unspent

pay packets, which can be spent usefully on the amenities for workers. No doubt,

rivals should be envying him for this edge.

The change should be apparent in mutual trust and confidence towards

effective understanding of the needs of worker and employer. The new

knowledge-based workers are mostly young in the fields of technology and

management. They are more forthcoming in trusting the boss and older peers.

Now, all modern managements are cognisant of the innate desire of workers to be

accepted as part of the organisation for identity and other social reasons.

Effective dialogue is put into play between management and those who

execute through well-organised communication channels paving the way for

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improved co-operation and participation on emotional level. The decision making

level is nose diving to the floor level manager, where the poor guy has to think of

n number of quick decisions on behalf of the organisation. Unless the team is

behind and involved with commitment, the manager cannot implement the newtasks in production, distribution, peoples excellence, customer relations, etc.,

thanks to the e factor prefixed to the names of majority of departments.

Logically, harmony plays its part in cost efficiency. Successful managers are

those who listen to their workers.

Influences

Overwork is tolerated in emerging industries unlike government

departments as part of the game and work culture. This is so, what with the

soaring competition among the tightly contested players. The point is

empowerment of workforce in the area of involvement.

All said and one, the workers are considered as the invisible branch

ambassadors and internal customers in certain industries. It is evident that most of

the managements are increasingly realising that quality alone stands to gain in the

ultimate analysis. Restructuring the industrial relations in work area is the key for

improving the quality of product and the price of the stock. Without creating

supportive environment in restructured environment, higher quality of work

cannot be extracted. It is already high time the older theories of industrial

relations should be unlearnt.

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QUALITY OF WORK LIFE THE HUMAN

IMPLICATIONS

One cannot do right in one area of life whilst he is occupied in doing

wrong in another. Life is one invisible whole Mahatma Gandhi

How true and difficult is to paraphrase the profound truth contained in the

words of one of the greatest human beings of the modern world. The harsh realityof modern life is that Quality of Work Life (QWL) has taken a beating because

most of us are working harder than ever. On average people in the developed

countries spend an astonishing 14 to 15 hours a day against the accepted 8 to 9

hours. What is very disturbing is that the trend is on the rise. Burn out; stress

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leading to health hazards is the natural offshoot. The concept of lifetime

employment or job security through hard work has been on a decline since more

and more people are on short-term contracts and lack security of long-term

employment.

Although traditional work structures seem to be dissolving, this hasnt

necessarily resulted in more flexibility for the workers. Employers, by and large,

are still reluctant to absorb employees on a permanent basis before they have

proved their worth. The psychological pressure on the employee is tremendous

and their lives are characterised by a pronounced conflict between professional

and private lives. Lesser employees doing greater work make the work

monotonous and gruelling for the employee. The implication of all this is that it

leaves the worker with less and less time for interests, family and leisure time in

general.

It is not uncommon to see people who aspire to have work and personal life in

synchronisation. The work life balance has become the buzzword for the present

generation. Thus in an ideal world, most people would like their output assessed

by the results they achieve at work and not by the hours they spend slaying away

at their desk. Thus, in turn, would leave them free to pursue their personal interests

outside work. Only a handful of employees have understood this intrinsic desire of

employees and have turned it into a competitive advantage. Occupational

Psychology assumes a key role as it contributes to work models but also with the

thorough study of factors underlying the work/life balance. The study of work and

family life is a relatively recent field. They argue out a case for alternative work

models.

Workplace flexibility is increasingly becoming important both for the

employers as well as the employees. A good fit between peoples personal and

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work roles can go a long way in resolving conflicts. In fact researchers claim that

by helping to manage employees work/life conflicts the company actually

increases psychological availability for work of an employee. This is at least

true of some learning organisations that are open to such novel HR practices. Theylook at flexible work arrangements as an opportunity for more efficient

recruitment, decrease in staff turnover and absenteeism. Very importantly it helps

them to project an improved corporate image.

Occupational psychology conducted in UK points out that managers feel to be

working unjustifiably long hours and to be pushing their staff too hard. Only a

relatively small percentage felt reasonably sure that they have indicated their

preference for more flexible working hours. Nearly half perceived increased

difficulties in balancing their work and personal life and well over half said

pressure to perform at work left them less and less time for their personal life,

making them feel that they are missing out. The analysis of this research data was

descriptive and no attempts were made to analyse any traits underlying the

work/life balance. There are two important issues to be looked at. They are:

Two distinct factors underlying the work/life balance. One is related to the

general status quo of the workplace and the other one to attitudes held by the

individual.

That these factors would correlate with other variables, such as commitment,

gender or age.

It is instinctive human desire to secure oneself in material comforts in the early

phase of life to enjoy good quality of life at a later point in the life span. The point

that many do not realise is that life is not so compartmentalised that one can do the

activities in a sequential order one after the other. Life is a bundle that contains

all the strands together and hence the need to balance work life and other related

issues. There is nothing wrong in having career ambitions. We all have a deep

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human hunger to create something great through the work we do and shine in our

chosen profession.

One important dimension is the relationship balance. Many of us rationalise byrationing quality time for the family. Fact of the matter is that we tend to

perceive that the time spent with family should be qualitatively superior and

quantity doesnt matter. One must go the extra mile and ensure that the right

quantity of time is provided for the bonds of trust and love to grow. Children, in

particular, believe that the more time you spend with them reflects how much you

love them. It is said laughter is the shortest distance between two people. The

Relationship Balance creates a sense of fulfilment and the synergy spill over

positively in all of the other areas of your life. The warmth and love on the home

front enables a person to focus intensively and concentrate fully on the

professional work and achieve high degree of success. The other important

dimension is career balance. Einstein once said that one should be a person of

value rather than a person of success. There is a natural human urge in most of us

to have deep sense of fulfilment through our work lie. Our personal life will be

very dull and boring if work life isnt exciting and doesnt offer scope to bring out

the dormant talent in us. The urge to do some commercial activity by creative

methods to succeed in the market place and obtain monetary as well social rewards

is inherent in all human beings.

The point of wisdom is simply this: Do not trade-ff the pleasure of living for

the sake of achievement. Instead, joyfully achieve. Balance your commitment to

being the best you can be at work with a deep commitment to being a great

family person and loving friend. Understand that without balance in every core

area of your life, youll never find lasting happiness and a sense that you have

lived well.

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THE HUMAN FACTOR IN REWARDING EMPLOYEES

Seldom have we come across individual who does not respond to

appreciation. In fact, we consider such people as aberrations. Yet, how many of

the managers are sensitive to this issue? Their number is hardly encouraging. Most

of them do not consider it to be a major part of their job today. The work

schedules have become stiff with the increasing demands on productivity and

employees are expected to act in a manner that benefits the company. Resources

are thin, budgets tight and in this training is the first casualty. This implies that an

employee has to look within, rather than look up to the organisation to enhance

his/her skills.

The business environment today is characterised by speed and technology.

Personal interface by the managers has been replaced by computer interface. The

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minimum personal interaction that a manager has with an employee is devoted to

finding out the business details, and there is hardly any room left for the manager

to find out whether an employee has done an exceptionally good job while

carrying out his task. The blessings of technology are a mixed bag.

In his book, Mega Trends, John Naisbett gives an excellent account of the

changing work environment. He says that our work environments become more

and more technical, there will be a greater employee need to become more

personal and humane. He calls this phenomenon high-tech/high-touch. The irony

is that all this is happening at a time when the aspiration of the employees is to

have a greater meaning in their lives, particularly in the context of their job.

The paradox of the situation is that what motivates people most takes so

relatively little to do-just a little time and thoughtfulness for fresher. In a recent

research study of 1500 employees conducted by Dr. Gerald Graham, personal

congratulations by managers of employees who do a good job were ranked first

among 67 potential incentives evaluated. Second on the list was a personal note

for good performance written by the manager.

Eve information can be rewarding. Numerous studies indicate that open

communication was ranked as the most important reason that the employees

reported for staying with their present jobs. Everyone wants to know whats

going on?- especially, as it affects them, and merely telling them is motivating.

When we ponder over this aspect, the question that arises is whether is it really

that difficult to tell people that?

When it comes to rewards, most managers perceive that the only thing that

motivates their employees is money and more money. While money can be a

significant way of letting employees know their worth to the organisation, it may

not always be the sole sustaining motivational factor to most individuals. In other

words, money is important enough, and yet, may not be the be all or end all of

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employee motivation. More often than not, non-pecuniary factors may equally

motivate employees to do their best on the job.

The most limiting reason for money to be a motivator is that in most

organisations, performance reviews and corresponding salary increases occur only

once in a year. To motivate employees, performance need to reward the

achievements and progress made towards the goals by employees more frequently.

Regular reward-not necessarily monetary-needs to take place on almost daily

basis.

The intangibles matter a great deal to an employee. It may be small yet

significant for the workers that they are being appreciated for the work theyvedone, being kept informed about things that affect them and have a sympathetic

manger who takes time to listen. None of these intangibles are very costly, but

they all do take the time and thoughtfulness of a manger who tends to be caring.

By being a little creative, a manager can find out what specifically motivates

his/her employees and ignites the spark in them. His/her job is to make those

things happen. When one of the employees has put in extra effort on a key project

or achieved a goal that has been mutually set, he/she should recognise the

achievement fittingly in a unique and memorable way. Managers will find that the

more creative and unique they are with the reward, the more fun it will be for both

of them. The examples can be only limited by the managers imagination. It could

be sending a birthday gift to the employees beloved daughter to footing the bill of

the family dinner. The manager can grant employees, who have performed

exceptionally well, a pass for three-day weekend.

Recognition and rewards can be very powerful motivational tools. It is

quite intriguing to realise that a simple and sincere recognition with minimum

cost, paperwork and administration can impact employees in a profound way. At

Walt Disney, one of the companys 180 recognition programs is called The Spirit

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of Fred Award, named after an employee named Fred. When Fred first went from

an hourly to a salaried position, five people taught him the values necessary for

success at Disney. This help inspired the award, in which the name Fred became

an acronym for friendly, resourceful, enthusiastic and dependable. First given as alark, the award has come to be highly coveted in the organisation.

Rewarding employees for exceptional work theyve done is critical to keep

them motivated enough to continue their best. Although money is important, a

manager can obtain better employee performance by using personal, creative and

amusing forms of recognition.

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QWL THROUGH EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT (EI)

One of the most common methods used to create QWL is employee

involvement. Employee involvement (EI) consists of a variety of systematic

methods that empower employees to participate in the decisions that affect them

and their relationship with the organisation. Through (EI), employees feel a sense

of responsibility, even ownership of decisions in which they participate. To be

successful, however, EI must be more than just a systematic approach; it must

become part of the organisations culture by being part of managements

philosophy. Some companies have had this philosophy ingrained in their corporate

structure for decades; Hewlett-Packard, IBM, General Motors, Ford, etc.

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Pygmalion Effect

The implications for managers and human resource specialists are to create

an organisational culture that truly treats people as though they are experts at their

jobs and empowers them to use that expertise. When management does this, aPygmalion effect may result, which occurs when people live up to the high

expectations that others have of them. If management further assumes that people

want to contribute and seek ways to tap that contribution, better decisions,

improved productivity and a higher QWL are likely.

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QWL and EI INTERVENTIONS

A wide variety of companies have undertaken interventions to createemployee involvement or improved QWL. Examples include Motorolas

participative management approach, Boeings tiger teams, etc.

Boeings Tiger Teams

41

Boeing uses a single-focus task force approach called tiger teams.Generally these teams are assembled to solve some production-delaying

problem that the supervisor and employees cannot overcome. Variousapproaches to team building share a common underlying philosophy.Groups of people usually are better at solving problems than an individual.And even though the purpose of these approaches may be to find asolution, a by-product is improved quality of work life.


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Quality Circles

Quality circles are small groups of employees who meet regularly with their

common leader to identify and solve work-related probems. They are a highlyspecific form of team building, which are common in Japan and gained popularity

in North America in the late 1970s and early 1980s. by the 1980s most medium-

and large-sized Japanese firms had quality control circles for hourly employees.

This effort began as a quality improvement program but has since become a

routine procedure for many Japanese managers and a cornerstome of QWL efforts

in many Japanese firms.

Several characteristics make this approach unique. First, membership in the

circle is voluntary for both the leader (usually the supervisor) and the members

(usually hourly workers). Secondly, the creation of quality circles is usually

preceded by in-house training. For supervisors these sessions typically last for two

or three days. Most of the time is devoted to discussions of small-group dynamics,

leadership skills, and indoctrination in the QWL and quality circle philosophies.

About a day is spent on the different approaches to problem-solving techniques.

The workers also receive an explanation of the supervisors role as the groups

discussion leader and information on the quality circle concept. Thirdly, as is

pointed out in the training, the group is permitted to select the problems it wants to

tackle. Management may suggest problems of concern, but the group is

empowered to decide which ones to select. Ideally, the selection process is not by

democratic vote but is arrived at by consensus, whereby everyone agrees on the

problem to be tackled. (If management has been pressing problems that need to be

solved, these problems can be handled in the same way that they were resolved

before the introduction of quality circles).

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When employees are allowed to select the problems they want to work on,

they are likely to be more motivated to find solutions. And they are also more

likely to be motivated to stay on as members of the circle and solve additional

problems in the future.

Sociotechnical Systems

Another intervention to improve QWL is the use of sociotechnical systems.

Sociotechnical systems are interventions in the work situation that restructure the

work, the work groups, and the relationship between workers and the technologies

they use to do their jobs. More than just enlarging or enriching a job, these

approaches may result in more radical changes in the work environment.

Autonomous Work Groups

A more common, albeit still rare, approach to employee involvement is the

use of autonomous work groups. These are teams of workers, without a formal

company-appointed leader, who decide among themselves most decisions

traditionally handled by supervisors. The key feature of these groups is a high

degree of self-determination by employees in the management of their day-to-day

work. Typically this includes collective control over the pace of work, distribution

of tasks, organisation of breaks, and collective participation in the recruitment and

training of new members. Direct supervision is often necessary.

QWL is more likely to improve as workers demand jobs with more

behavioural elements. These demands will probably emerge from an increasingly

diverse and educated work force that expects more challenges and more autonomy

in its jobs such as worker participation in decisions traditionally reserved for

management.

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EMPLOYEE RELATIONS PRACTICES

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Beyond structural interventions in the way people work together, virtually

everything the human resource department does impacts employee relations

directly or indirectly. Many activities are largely unnoticed by employees,

including, for example, recruitment, selection, benefits administration and otherimportant functions. Other activities only affect employees periodically, such as

performance and salary review sessions. However, the department directly impacts

individual QWL and employee involvement through its communications,

counselling, and disciplinary practices.

Employee relation activities are shared with supervisors because of the

growing complexity of organisations, laws, and union-management relations.

Earlier in this century, for example, supervisors were solely responsible for

employee relation practices and hiring, which led to unethical practices, such as

favouritism and kickbacks to supervisors. Today, with the need for uniform, legal,

and corporation wide approaches, human resource specialists are given

considerable responsibility for employee relations. The result is a dual

responsibility between the department and supervisors. Of course, supervisors

remain responsible for communicating task-related requirements. They are also

responsible for counselling and disciplining their employees, within the guidelines

established by the department. But, when serious problems are uncovered in

counselling or a major disciplinary action is planned, human resource specialists

are commonly involved to ensure fairness and uniformity of treatment.

Employee Communication

Information is the engine that drives organisations. Information about the

organisation, its environment, its products and services, and its people is essential

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to management and workers. Without information, managers cannot make

effective decisions about markets or resources, particularly human resources.

Likewise, insufficient information may cause stress and dissatisfaction among

workers. This universal need for information is met through an organisationscommunication system. Communication system provides formal and informal

methods to move information through an organisation so that appropriate

decisions can be made.

All organisations have human resource communication systems. Most

organisations use a blend of formal, systematically designed communication

efforts and informal, ad hoc arrangements. For convenience, most of these

approaches can be divided into downward communication systems, which exist to

get information to employees, and upward communication systems, which exist to

get information from employees.

Grapevine communication is an informal system that arises spontaneously

from the social interaction of people in the organisation it is the people-to-people

system that arises naturally from the human desire to make friends and share ideas.

The human resource department has an interest in the grapevine because it

provides useful, off-the-record feedback from employees, if human resource

specialists are prepared to listen, understand, and interpret the information.

In-house complaint procedures are formal methods through which an

employee can register a complaint. These procedures are normally operated by the

human resource department and require the employee to submit the complaint in

writing. Then an employee relation specialist investigates the complaint and

advises its author of the results.

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Rap sessions are meetings between managers and groups of employees to

discuss complaints, suggestions, opinions or questions. These meetings may begin

with some information sharing by management to tell the group about

developments in the company. However, the primary purpose is to encourageupward communication, often with several levels of employees and lower-level

management in attendance at the same time. When these meetings are face-to-face

informal discussions between a higher-level manager and rank-and-file workers,

the process may be called deep-sensing if it attempts to probe in some depth the

issues that are on the minds of employees. These sessions also are called vertical

staffing meetings because they put higher-level managers directly in touch with

employees. Constructive suggestions sometimes emerge from these meetings.

Suggestion systems are a formal method for generating, evaluating and

implementing employee ideas. This method is likely to succeed if management

provides prompt and fair evaluations, if supervisors are trained to encourage

employee suggestions, and if top management actively supports the program.

Unfortunately, evaluations often take months to process or supervisors see

suggestions as too much work for them with few personal benefits. As a result,

many company suggestion plans exist on paper but are not very effective.

Attitude surveys are systematic methods of determining what employees

think about their organisation. These surveys may be conducted through face-to-

face interviews, but they are usually done through anonymous questionnaires. An

attitude survey typically seeks to learn what employees think about working

conditions, supervision and personnel policies. Questions about new programs or

special concerns to management may also be asked. The resulting information can

be used to evaluate specific concerns, such as how individual managers are

perceived by their employees.

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Employee Counselling

Counselling is the discussion of a problem with an employee, with the

general objective of helping the worker either resolve or cope with it. Stress

and personal problems are likely to affect both performance and anemployees general life adjustment; therefore, it is in the best interests of all

those concerned (employer, employee and community) to help the

employee return to full effectiveness. Counselling is a useful tool to help

accomplish this goal. The success rate counselling program often is

substantial.

Counselling is strictly a confidential relationship, and records of it should

be restricted to persons directly involved in solving the counselling

problem. These practices are necessary to protect employee privacy and to

protect the employer from possible lawsuits for liabilities such as invasion

of privacy or alleged slander. The policy of some firms is to refer all martial

and family counselling to community agencies. These companies believe

that, for reasons of employee privacy, they should not be involved in these

problems. Employers also must be certain that their counselling programs

comply with EEO regulations by providing equal counselling services to all

protected employee groups.

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DisciplineCounselling does not always work. Sometimes the employees behaviour is

inappropriately disruptive or performance is unacceptable. Under these

circumstances, discipline is needed. Discipline is management action to encourage

compliance with organisational standards. There are two types of discipline:

Preventive Discipline

Corrective Discipline

Preventive discipline is action taken to encourage employees to follow

standards and rules so that infractions are prevented. The basic objective is to

encourage self-discipline, and the human resource department plays an important

role. For example, it develops programs to control absences and grievances. Itcommunicates standards to employees and encourages workers to follow them.

And it encourages employee participation in setting standards, since workers will

give better support to rules that they have helped create. Employees also will give

more support to standards stated positively instead of negatively, such as Safety

first! rather than Dont be careless! effective discipline is a system relationship

and the department needs to be concerned with all parts of the system.

Corrective discipline is an action that follows a rule infraction. It seeks to

discourage further infractions and to ensure future compliance with standards.

Typically the corrective or disciplinary action is a penalty, such as a warning or

suspension without pay. These actions are usually initiated by an employees

immediate supervisor but may require approval by a higher-level manager or the

human resource department. Approvals exist to guard against subsequent labour

union or legal actions and to assure uniform application of rules throughout the

organisation. Any appeals. Then go to higher levels in the company and I the

union hierarchy.

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EMPLOYEE HEALTH IS COMPANYS WEALTH

A glance at various organisational websites and annual reports reveal that

lack of a comprehensive health plan for the employees has resulted in indirect,recurring losses for companies.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Company

experimental group realised a four per cent increase in productivity after starting

an employee fitness program. Further, 47 per cent of programme participants

reported that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their co-workers, and

generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators found that mental performance was significantly

better in physically fit workers than in non-fit workers. Fit workers committed 27

per cent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as

compared with the performance of non-fit workers.

Studies by various US and UK-based medical research institutes have

shown that 80-90 per cent of people of any age, gender, physical fitness and

profession who use a computer regularly are likely to suffer from vision and health

problems.

Another study conducted by Department of Human Factors Engineering,

University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan, showed that visual

strain occurred after 60 minutes of video display terminal (VCD) task.

A close look at these only supports the fact that a sizeable portion of

employees suffer from health problems that are mostly work generated and that

well-planned, comprehensive health promotion programmes can help in reducing

such ailments. This would in turn pave the way for rise in overall productivity.

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However, corporates have hardly realised the existence of this silent

troublemaker, leave alone assessing the magnitude of the problem. Hence, they

continue to extract more work hours which results in a stressed life-style for

employees.

While at first, corporations may appear to benefit from workers added

effort during long, stress-filled days, rising health care premiums may show

otherwise. One study based on the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, for

instance, showed men who skipped their annual vacation were more likely to die

from coronary heart disease than were couch potatoes or smokers who do get

away for a little annual rest and relaxation, wrote Wendy D Lynch in Business

Health about the American work scenario.

The scene back home is also not good. Taking cue from the workaholic

West born companies, Indian corporate houses too can be seen flooded with over-

stressed employees trying to attain strength from their cups of coffee and puffs of

cigarettes. Many employees report for work on time and work for unlimited hours

that the company stands to earn more if employees put in additional work hours is

only a myth.

Problems Galore

Poor eyesight, spondylitis, discomfort, fatigue, tension, depression,

irritability and obesity are only a few of the problems. Lack of care can lead to

long-term ailments, wherein not only the person concerned, but his entire family

has to suffer.

Another problem that has a direct implication on the employees psyche is

lack of a feeling of belonging to his/her organisation. There is much more an

employee expects from his organisation, beyond a work-salary relationship. A

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sense of attachment to his company is very important, opine employees by and

large.

Agrees Prof B M Hedge, Vice-Chancellor, Manipal Academy of HigherEducation, Japan has the lowest rate of heart attacks in the world. One of the

reasons is the absence of differences between the boss and workers. So a sense of

belonging helps!

Health education programmes improves overall productivity and quality of

employees. Companies might do a lot for the medical care of employees, but

precious little for preventive healthcare, says Dr Prathap Reddy, chairman,

Apollo Hospitals Group, stressing on the importance of preventive healthcare for

diseases like cancer and heart attack.

The Right Approach

Most human resources managers and corporate directors intuitively

understand that neither the sleep-deprived employee nor her caffeine-powered

manager who hasnt taken a day off in three years is working at peak capacity. But

what is peak? Lacking a definition, Americans have fallen into the more is

better rut, with untold implications for their health, says Lynch.

So its high-time employers actually wake up and realise the fact that more

work-hours need not necessarily mean more output. To maintain that, they need to

adopt their employees well-being as a business strategy. It is very important to

allocate not only an appropriate budget for the companys healthcare plan. With an

appropriate budget for the companys healthcare activities in place, it is also

imperative that a professional set-up and approach be followed for the

implementation of the same. In other words, the healthcare vision must be total -

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promotive, preventive and curative, says Captain Dr Rakesh Dullu, deputy

manager health and medical services, Hero Honda.

At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that if we are able totake care of the families health too, we are actually reducing the stress of the

employees and can expect better productivity and quality from them, he adds. But

according to the current scenario there are only countable organisations that have

any health plans for their employees families. Out of a plethora of services that

can or should be provided, most companies are happy providing medical

reimbursement of a few hundred rupees to their employees. Ideally, the focus

should be on prevention rather than cure.

Small things like low-fat balanced meals in cafeterias and occasional

serving of fresh fruits or juices can go a long way in helping the workers maintain

a healthy mind and body. However, this is not the least a company can do.

Considering the long working hours, die hard competition and mounting pressure,

experts suggest a few must haves for any organisation:

Health plans: Even though health insurance has not established a foothold

in India, companies must ensure that its employees get an insurance coverage.

Hero Honda, for instance has an understanding with some Gurgaon-based

hospitals where, depending on the availability of specialised doctors, employees

are sent for treatment. All employees in the company are covered under the

National Insurance scheme. We have our own parameters for selecting a hospital

and we are constantly in touch with the doctors there, says Dr Dullu.

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Morepen 3H makes use of its team of doctors for its employees too.

Though we do not have any structured approach, our team of 8 doctors and

mobile clinics are always there for basic routine check-ups, informs Atul

Gandotra, Vice-President, marketing and sales, 3H Morepen.While the senior staff is medically insured, a reimbursement of Rs 600 is given to

junior employees.

Visiting doctor: Right advice at the right time saves both time and money.

A good doctor not only prescribes medicines but also counsels his patients to a

state of wellness. Many ailments like back pains, etc. which go unattended till the

time they dont start disrupting the day to day work (and hence work output) can

be resolved in the very start.

Sports events or recreation: Such activities do not give a break from work

but also help in re-energising the mind. In short, they keep ones mind and body

fit.

Health club facilities/ Gym: Most big companies like GE, LG, Infosys etc.

have a well-equipped gym for their employees. Such a facility not only helps a

person keep fit, but also serves as a de-stressing factor.

Right infrastructure: Ergonomics of the furniture, user-friendly

computers, right air-conditioning and amount of light, height of roof, space around

the work area, are all factors that affect the health and therefore the productivity of

an individual.

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BALANCING THE WORK AND LIFE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES

Researches indicate that balanced work-life can lead to greater employee

productivity. With the progressive shift of the economy towards a knowledge

economy, the meaning and Importance of tile quality of work life is also

assuming a new significance. The article details the factor$ that should be tuned

to attain balance between work and life of an employee.

You must have both love and work in your life to make you healthy. Don't

you agree? Well, this is what Sigmund Freud had said decades ago for healthy

workers. Family is an essential ingredient for the love that exists in the life of theemployees. But are the corporates structuring the work patterns so as to ensure the

necessary balances? Are the corporates providing opportunities to their employees

to spend quality time in their personal lives? Many researchers indicate that

maintaining a good balance in work and life has become a priority for the

corporates in the developed nations.

At the dawn of industrialisation, the needs and priorities of employees were atthe lower end of Maslows need hierarchy pyramid. The priority was given more

to physical and material security. However, with rapid cultural and economic

developments, the priorities outside job became very different. Employees started

looking for higher and meaningful quality of life as a result of the outcomes of

their work. After all, what are they working for? A good happy and a decent life.

With the increasing shift of the economy towards knowledge economy, the

meaning and importance of the quality of work life is also assuming a new

significance. Today, the connotation of the term 'work' has also become different.

It has more to do with the intellectual exercise than physical labour. As a result,

the corporates need to streamline and restructure their work schedules in order to

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bring about a balance in work life of their employees. Understanding and

managing the levels and complexities of diverse motivational needs is another

area, which requires careful attention from the corporates to bring about work-life

balance.

Let us now look at the factors that have created the need for maintaining work

life balance.

Various researchers have pointed out the following.

Shifts in Societal Patterns

Gone are the days of joint families where you had to care for elders and

they, in turn, had to nurture your emotions. Today's nuclear families with both the

partners working, have created new dynamics that has become emotionally

demanding to the employees. Financial and social obligations have assumed a

different level of significance today. Not only this, the needs of organisations

today have also changed. Money is getting accumulated in tiny pockets, among

those sections of people who possess the most wanted knowledge. And these so-called knowledge workers are the ones who are in acute need to balancing their

work and life.

Technological Breakthroughs

Tremendous progress in the fields of information technology and

communication system has changed our worldview. At the same time, it demands

more from todays employees. Strict deadlines, tighter schedules and ever-

escalating corporate targets are the natural outcome of it.

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New Horizon of Expectations

Due to the above reasons there has been a total shift in the level of

expectations for todays employees. In fact, in the book Geeks and Geezers,

Thomas and Bennis explain how attitudes towards work and life balance variesfrom generation to generation. Baby boomers are no longer ready to give their

lives to the company they work for. Whereas the Generation Xs and Ys are

more committed to meet the demands of both work and family life. In turn, they

seek a newly defined and restructured way of getting jobs assigned to them.

Researchers have pointed out that a balance between work and life is

maintained when there is no conflict between work and family demands. Though

this seems to be idealistic situation, what the corporates need to remember is that

the conflicts should not reach unacceptable levels where it would tend to affect the

productivity of the employee. According to 1998 America @ Work (SM) study

conducted by Aon Consulting Worldwide Inc., an HR consulting firm based in

Chicago, the employees of today put their commitment to organisations they work

for only if the management recognises the importance of their personal and family

life.

Striking a balance between work and life is as difficult for the corporates as

it is for the employees. However, the onus of maintaining this is more on the

corporates because, as pointed out by the famous Hawthorne Experiment, the

world of individuals primarily centres on their place of work. So a careful perusal

of the working patterns and scheduling of jobs will be one of the first steps in

designing work schedule that can balance life and work. The HR managers, along

with the functional heads and line mangers, should try to bring in flexibility to the

working patterns within the organisations. A trade off between organisational

needs and personal needs of the employees has to be worked out. Following are

some of the ways in which it cane be done. Though this is in no way an

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exhaustive list, yet it does provide a starting point for corporates to develop

flexible work schedules that can balance work and life.

Creating Institutional Support MechanismsThe first and the foremost requirement is to create conditions that will

provide organisational support towards maintaining the flexibility of work and life

of the employees. These entail the propagation of the culture of work flexibility,

HR policies and other organisational regulations that allow the employees to

maintain a good mix of personal lives with their career.

There is a need to clearly chalk out the connection between maintaining this

flexibility and the corporate objectives. For instance, managers at Eli Lilly begin

their job in the company with a clear understanding of what the company expects.

They undergo a weeklong program, called Supervisor School that blends the

business case for work life initiatives. Thus, the management ensures that the

flexibility in work is linked with the objectives of the organisation. But this is not

enough. What is needed is to ensure and communicate the support of the senior

management. The top management of the company must clearly communicate its

eagerness and willingness to restructure the work schedules in such a manner that

it can balance the work and life of the employees. This will require clear

articulation from the company that it values the personal lives of its employees.

The employees must understand that their organisation also keeps in mind the

value of their life and personal relationship. Such articulation can be done through

the companys vision and mission statements.

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Providing Managerial Support

Only lip service towards work life balance will not suffice. Organisations

must make sure that there are proper organisational systems of work design that

allows employees to have flexible time. This may even require a new looktowards HR manual, which the organisation may have.

It is also necessary to evaluate such systems of flexibility from time to time.

Otherwise, stagnancy will creep into the work schedules, which might create new

dimensions of the problem in the work life patterns. To keep pace with the

changing patterns of work and life of employees, the organisations can arrange

special training programs that will inform the employees about the new working

trends. This can be done through sharing successful models of work schedules

and real life case studies.

Practising What You Preach

Above all, the organisations need to execute their flexible work schedules.

Flexible work patterns must become a part of organisational initiatives. This will

require the creation of a networked environment that can provide a back up

system to support work relationship. Essentially this will require employees to

become cross functional, so that a temporary emergency or a shortfall in one

department can be met by other departments. Thus, the role of HR department

needs to be revisited and made more expansive and supportive towards

organisational and individual needs.

Sustain It

Once the organisation follows and internalises the practice of flexible work

schedules for its employees, it is very necessary that it sustains it over a long

period of time. Such sustainability can e brought about by clear demarcations of

accountability and means to measure it. In other words, the focus and purpose of

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creating balanced work life should be maintained at any cost. This will also call

for review and evaluation of the current work environment and make

modifications in the schedules accordingly.

Several researchers have shown that a balanced work-life creates greater

employee productivity. What important is the long-term and not the short-term,

which seems to become the focus of many organisations. So, though it may

apparently seem that employees are having more leisure, the effect of a balanced

work-life will show up positively in the bottom line of the company.

Benefits of improving work-life balance

Aiding employee recruitment and retention

More employees may stay on in a job, return after a break or take a job with

one company over another if they can match their other needs better with those

of their paid work.

This results in savings for the employer avoiding the cost of losing an

experienced worker and recruiting someone new.

Employers who support their staff in this way often gain the bonus of loyalty

from those staff.

The British Work-Life Balance Study 2000, including a representative survey

of 2500 workplaces, found that 58 per cent of employers thought that work-life

balance practices had improved staff motivation and commitment, and 52 per

cent thought labour turnover and absenteeism were lower, and that they helped

retain female employees. The Australian 2002 Benchmarking Study found that

organisations implementing work-life strategies and evaluating them observed

reduced turnover, absenteeism, and increased return from parental leave.

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Reducing absenteeism

Many companies that have introduced family-friendly or flexible working

practices have seen benefits through reductions in absenteeism. Sickness rates

may fall as pressures are managed better, while employees may have better

methods of dealing with work-life conflicts than taking unplanned leave.

Workers (including their managers) who are healthy and not over-stressed may

be more efficient.

Improving the quality of people's working lives

Minimising work-life role conflict can help prevent role overload and help

people have a more satisfying working life, fulfilling their potential both in

paid work and outside it.

Work life balance can minimise stress and fatigue at work, enabling people to

have safer and healthier working lives. Workplace stress and fatigue can

contribute to injuries at work and at home.

Self-employed people control their own work time to some extent. Most

existing information on work-life balance is targeted at those in employment

relationships. However, the self-employed too may benefit from maintaining

healthy work habits and developing strategies to manage work-flows which

enable them to balance work with other roles in their lives.

Matching people who wouldnt otherwise work with jobs

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Parents and carers, people with disabilities and those nearing retirement are

among those who may increase their workforce participation if more flexible

work arrangements are possible. Employment has positive individual and

social benefits beyond the financial rewards.

Employers may also benefit from a wider pool of talent to draw from this is

particularly to their benefit when skill shortages exist.

The Baseline Study of Work-Life Balance Practices in Great Britain found that

there was strong demand amongst lone parents, carers and disabled people for

flexible working time arrangements.

Benefiting families and communities

In a situation of conflict between work and family, one or other suffers.

Overseas studies have found that family life can interfere with paid work, and

the reverse. At the extreme, if family life suffers this may have wider social

costs.

Involvement in community, cultural, sporting or other activities can be a benefit to community and civil society at large. For instance, voluntary

participation in school boards of trustees can contribute to the quality of our

children's education. While such activities are not the responsibility of

individual employers, they may choose to support them actively, since

community activities can demonstrate good corporate citizenship,

quality of work life project by sneha venkataraman

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